What is 'The American Dream'?

**Janszoon** · 05-12-2009, 01:48 PM

On a serious note: I think the short description of the American dream is basically the idea that anybody who works hard can become successful here no matter what circumstances they come from. Personally I think that's kind of bullshit but nevertheless that's what the phrase means.

TheBig3 · 05-12-2009, 02:42 PM

tyler perry

**Janszoon** · 05-12-2009, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBig3KilledMyRainDog

tyler perry

The American dream is to make shitty movies that combine low-brow "guy dressed as a fat lady" humor with Lifetime Original Movie level drama?

TheBig3 · 05-12-2009, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janszoon

The American dream is to make shitty movies that combine low-brow "guy dressed as a fat lady" humor with Lifetime Original Movie level drama?

he lived in his car man.

Son of JayJamJah · 05-12-2009, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBig3KilledMyRainDog

he lived in his car man.

apparently it was a very unfunny car

Son of JayJamJah · 05-12-2009, 08:15 PM

This is relevant I suppose; this is probably playing in the montage as one pursues the American Dream.

sleepy jack · 05-15-2009, 08:06 PM

"The American dream is fucked." - Hunter S. Thompson

polyphonic · 05-17-2009, 12:47 AM

The American Dream to some has settled into a buying more, having more, and still wanting more attitude; affluence is goal and consumption is key. Striving for higher social class, the quest for property, prestige, and power never seems to rest. In a culture the redefines American Idol, stuffs its food with other food, and cruises smooth pavement in ridiculously sized sport utility vehicles, we find ourselves in a constant state of fear and worry. A state of mind that to me, is unbecoming to the American Dream.
The American Dream sounds like a magical concept that anyone would want to participate in. To some people in undeveloped nations, the bare minimum of what we achieve in our everyday lives would be considered a blessing, a dream come true indeed. Within the possession of great wealth and happiness lies the eternal fear of having it all taken away. Fear of losing a lifestyle filled with such opportunity is only natural, and is possibly even a healthy way to appreciate what we have, all while ensuring that we hang on to it. But what if some of the fear was unnecessary, even put in place by people in positions of power to fulfill their own needs and objectives? What if Global Warming is nothing more than the spreading of fear by media and scientists, like scare tactics put in place by the government, in order to control the thoughts and behavior of the population of America and the world.
Sometimes it’s hard not to think that we are sometimes just being distracted from the bigger things going on around us. When former President George W. Bush came to speak in my home town of Springfield, Missouri, even though we were quite recently thrown into “The War on Terror”, he spent the majority of his speech voicing his standpoint on same sex marriage and speaking in that circular motion that politicians do when you ask them a question that they don’t want to answer. Then there is the matter of color coded terrorist threat levels after 9/11. Which sounds like a decent medium for purposes of informing citizens the likely hood of attacks to own country, but some would go as far as to say that the odds of your getting killed in a terrorist attack are of several orders of magnitude lower than of getting struck by lightning. The purpose of terrorism is to terrorize and I would say in regard to that effect, that they have prevailed victoriously.Tyranny is the very thing our founding fathers strived to prevent. Fear caused by various acts of government and media have stifled this prevention, and therefore, have taken away from what the American dream really could be.

Guybrush · 05-18-2009, 06:05 AM

In a society where you have winners and losers, people should aspire to becoming winners. Isn't that basically what the american dream is? Throw in a little history with pioneers and settlers who had nothing coming over to America to make it big and you're there. At least that's what it seems like to me - the dream/possibility for everyone to become a winner.

I expect unless everyone are winners or unless winning becomes clearly impossible, it will persist.

polyphonic · 05-18-2009, 04:05 PM

“…the notion of social control…the requirement of every sovereign state to exert control over the behavior of its citizens, to keep them orderly and reasonably docile. For fifteen years, Western nations had maintained their citizens in a state of perpetual fear. Fear of the other side. Fear of nuclear war. The Communist menace. The iron curtain. The evil empire… then suddenly, in the fall of 1989, it was all finished…the fall of the Berlin Wall created a vacuum of fear. Nature abhors a vacuum. Something had to fill it…environmental crisis took the place of the Cold War…now we have radical fundamentalism and post-9/11 terrorism to make us afraid…point is, although the specific cause of our fear may change, we are never without fear itself…afraid of strangers of disease, of crime, of the environment…the homes [we] live in, the food [we] eat, the technology that surrounds [us]…particular panic over things [we] can’t see- germs, chemicals, additives, pollutants…the military-industrial complex is no longer the primary driver of society. In reality for the past fifteen years we have been under the control of an entirely new complex…the politico-media complex…dedicated to promoting fear in the population- under the guise of promoting safety.” (Chrichton 455-456)

05-12-2009, 01:48 PM	#31 (permalink)
Janszoon Mate, Spawn & Die Join Date: May 2007 Location: The Rapping Community Posts: 24,593	On a serious note: I think the short description of the American dream is basically the idea that anybody who works hard can become successful here no matter what circumstances they come from. Personally I think that's kind of bullshit but nevertheless that's what the phrase means. __________________ A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man Time & Place 25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die last.fm

05-12-2009, 02:42 PM	#32 (permalink)
TheBig3 killedmyraindog Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Boston, Massachusetts Posts: 11,172	tyler perry __________________ I've moved to a new address

05-17-2009, 12:47 AM	#38 (permalink)
polyphonic Trigger Happy Catalyst Join Date: May 2009 Location: Springfield, Mo. Posts: 62	I'm so glad you asked The American Dream to some has settled into a buying more, having more, and still wanting more attitude; affluence is goal and consumption is key. Striving for higher social class, the quest for property, prestige, and power never seems to rest. In a culture the redefines American Idol, stuffs its food with other food, and cruises smooth pavement in ridiculously sized sport utility vehicles, we find ourselves in a constant state of fear and worry. A state of mind that to me, is unbecoming to the American Dream. The American Dream sounds like a magical concept that anyone would want to participate in. To some people in undeveloped nations, the bare minimum of what we achieve in our everyday lives would be considered a blessing, a dream come true indeed. Within the possession of great wealth and happiness lies the eternal fear of having it all taken away. Fear of losing a lifestyle filled with such opportunity is only natural, and is possibly even a healthy way to appreciate what we have, all while ensuring that we hang on to it. But what if some of the fear was unnecessary, even put in place by people in positions of power to fulfill their own needs and objectives? What if Global Warming is nothing more than the spreading of fear by media and scientists, like scare tactics put in place by the government, in order to control the thoughts and behavior of the population of America and the world. Sometimes it’s hard not to think that we are sometimes just being distracted from the bigger things going on around us. When former President George W. Bush came to speak in my home town of Springfield, Missouri, even though we were quite recently thrown into “The War on Terror”, he spent the majority of his speech voicing his standpoint on same sex marriage and speaking in that circular motion that politicians do when you ask them a question that they don’t want to answer. Then there is the matter of color coded terrorist threat levels after 9/11. Which sounds like a decent medium for purposes of informing citizens the likely hood of attacks to own country, but some would go as far as to say that the odds of your getting killed in a terrorist attack are of several orders of magnitude lower than of getting struck by lightning. The purpose of terrorism is to terrorize and I would say in regard to that effect, that they have prevailed victoriously.Tyranny is the very thing our founding fathers strived to prevent. Fear caused by various acts of government and media have stifled this prevention, and therefore, have taken away from what the American dream really could be. __________________ How quickly I forget that this is meaningless. Last edited by polyphonic; 05-18-2009 at 03:56 PM. Reason: changed "*" to "same sex" in regard to marriage

05-18-2009, 06:05 AM	#39 (permalink)
Guybrush Juicious Maximus III Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Scabb Island Posts: 6,525	In a society where you have winners and losers, people should aspire to becoming winners. Isn't that basically what the american dream is? Throw in a little history with pioneers and settlers who had nothing coming over to America to make it big and you're there. At least that's what it seems like to me - the dream/possibility for everyone to become a winner. I expect unless everyone are winners or unless winning becomes clearly impossible, it will persist. __________________ Something Completely Different

05-18-2009, 04:05 PM	#40 (permalink)
polyphonic Trigger Happy Catalyst Join Date: May 2009 Location: Springfield, Mo. Posts: 62	Thoughts from Michael Crichton's, "State of Fear". “…the notion of social control…the requirement of every sovereign state to exert control over the behavior of its citizens, to keep them orderly and reasonably docile. For fifteen years, Western nations had maintained their citizens in a state of perpetual fear. Fear of the other side. Fear of nuclear war. The Communist menace. The iron curtain. The evil empire… then suddenly, in the fall of 1989, it was all finished…the fall of the Berlin Wall created a vacuum of fear. Nature abhors a vacuum. Something had to fill it…environmental crisis took the place of the Cold War…now we have radical fundamentalism and post-9/11 terrorism to make us afraid…point is, although the specific cause of our fear may change, we are never without fear itself…afraid of strangers of disease, of crime, of the environment…the homes [we] live in, the food [we] eat, the technology that surrounds [us]…particular panic over things [we] can’t see- germs, chemicals, additives, pollutants…the military-industrial complex is no longer the primary driver of society. In reality for the past fifteen years we have been under the control of an entirely new complex…the politico-media complex…dedicated to promoting fear in the population- under the guise of promoting safety.” (Chrichton 455-456) __________________ How quickly I forget that this is meaningless.